Private Property…

I remember cutting through people’s yards when I was young, always feeling a little nervous that I’d get caught. Looking back I now realize that no one would have yelled at me or, worse, shot at me with a bb gun, so why was I so nervous? Where did my fear of trespassing come from? Let’s time travel back and take a look, shall we….?

EARLY TALES OF TRESPASSING TRAUMA

When I think of “Peter Rabbit” I immediately conjure up images of Mr. McGregor chasing Peter through the garden with a rake. Something about that old man use to scare me. Had Peter not escaped, I’m pretty sure that Mr. McGregor would have made a fine rabbit stew out of him, pieces of his little blue velvet jacket floating in the broth.

If there was ever a Trespassing genre, “The Wizard of Oz” would top the list. Everywhere Dorothy and Toto went was some sort of scary private property. Even the Wizard, whose supposed to be so helpful, turns out to be all crotchety when Dorothy and friends enter his domain, and don’t even get me started on the Witch’s castle, although I will say this for her, she did seem excited to see them. What were kids supposed to take away from this story? “There’s no place like home?” What about, don’t venture out because other people will try to kill you? *There’s one other unrelated message which comes at the end, one that I’ve tried to adhere to for most of my life; Just stay in bed and talk crazy so people will lower their expectations of you – you might even get a cool rag on your forehead.

Hansel and Gretel, is one of the more disturbing children’s trespassing tales and where my fear of ovens and cages probably comes from. Then of course there’s Goldilocks, a girl with absolutely no boundaries or manners. Wasn’t it enough that she ate their porridge, did she really have to get in their beds?

Anyway, the list goes on and on… By the time we enter into our pre-adolescent phase we’ve been completely conditioned to fear the deadly consequences of breaching property lines. Consequences that include, being cooked and eaten, being bludgeoned, being set on fire, being drugged (as was the case with the poppy field – although not a terrible consequence in my estimation), being woken by angry bears, starving, and being air lifted by flying monkeys, etc.

T H E G A U N T L E T

Almost every summer day of my youth was spent at the Pool and Tennis Club. I loved hanging out there with my friends. The problem was in getting there. In order to get to the club I had to cut through someone’s backyard, someone who lived five houses down from us. (I never saw those neighbors coming or going which made it all the more mysterious) Even as I approached the house my heart would start pounding. I’d look around, secure the towel around my shoulders and climb over the fence. Okay, the fence was a split rail fence and low to the ground, but I still felt it was an obstacle. My eyes would dart about, yeah, so maybe I was looking for flying monkeys, old men with rakes, and witches. Can you blame me? Once over the fence I would hurry around the perimeter until I reached the tree line in the back yard and quickly disappear into the thicket. I felt safer in the woods, but it wasn’t until I emerged on the far end of the tennis courts that I could finally breath. Safety. Civilization. The familiar sound of tennis balls being slammed. I had survived yet another run through the gauntlet which, in some strange way, has come to represent my youth.

21 thoughts on “Private Property…”

Thanks! I always felt a little like Peter Rabbit when I was cutting through people’s property. As I was writing this I started realizing how many scary trespassing messages were out there! Haha! No wonder I was scared!

Oh I enjoyed this so much! I felt the same way about Peter Cottontail. It was scarey! And the Wizard of Oz basically said, you can’t trust anybody not to turn on you. They made a huge impression on me too. I don’t remember being afraid of tresspassing so much (probably because I didn’t have to tresspass to get to the public pool), but I was afraid of falling down the Alice in Wonderland hole for years when I was a kid. I was always calling my mother into my room in the middle of the night to make her check to make sure there wasn’t a Wonderland hole that had formed. I remember alot of kids being trapped in old wells and whatnot always being in the news so that must have been part of that fear.

It’s interesting how I’ve always tended to think that the entertainment back then as beeing so much more wholesome than today’s. Uh . . .I’m rethinking now! HA!

That’s so funny about Alice in Wonderland, but it makes complete sense when you connect the dots. We’re so impressionable when we’re young — it’s amazing with all the frightening messages we’re given that we’re not riddled with crippling anxiety! ha!

On closer inspection our wholesome entertainment dealt with some pretty scary and heavy topics. Good old Walt Disney must have been working out some ‘stuff’ from his own youth since most of his stories involve single parent homes, among other frightening things! haha!

lol good examples! Goldilocks totes had no manners. Like, she broke baby bear’s chair! What a ho. I remember cutting through our neighbor Lucy’s yard. Sometimes she would yell at me but then I think she realized that if I got raped going the long way, it would be all her fault.

Hahaha! Yeah, I’m sure that’s what was going through her mind!
Why do old people get so bent out of shape? It wasn’t like you were trampling her precious flowers or like she didn’t know who you were? Weird.

Hi,
A lot of different fairytales were very frightening, but I think it was a good way of basically saying Stranger Danger. We were learning without realizing it.
A great post and all those wonderful stories that I sat in awe and watched come flooding back. 😀

Yes you never hear the word Stranger Danger these days, or even anything associated to it, a lot of kids seem to just trust strangers, especially if they have candy or a cute animal with them. Hansel and Gretel and the house made of candy to lure the children inside, still applies today, except it is usually a car.

Maybe it’s time for some new fairytales, that are more up to date with the world today. 🙂

It’s weird too how everyone always thinks of their property as being private. Really it’s not even their property. Don’t the banks own everything? Or have I bought into Michael Moore too much? I remember being nervous to hop my neighbor’s fences to get a ball back. Why would I be nervous? I’m 6 and they’ve seen me before. It only turned out bad when our neighbors (The Gummy Bastards) would steal our stuff when it entered their yard. Luckily our dogs would pop some of their balls. We won. Don’t stress pass on Boyle Manor.

Yeah, you’re right, it’s not really “private.” Homeowners just like to say that because it makes them feel like Lord of the Estate. I’ve known quite a few crotchety homeowners who acted like every blade of their grass had been accounted for.

I like that your dog would pop your neighbors balls! haha!

When I used to walk home from the bus stop I had to pass by this one house that had a Boxer named “Champ.” That dog would charge right up to the property line baring his teeth. So scary. People with dogs don’t have to worry about trespassers, usually. If people cut through my yard they would have at least stepped in dog poo.